


Final Stand

by thisbluespirit



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: 500 prompts, F/M, UNIT
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 13:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14770394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisbluespirit/pseuds/thisbluespirit
Summary: Liz is stuck out in the middle of a war zone...





	Final Stand

**Author's Note:**

> Written for femme_slash_fan in the [500 Prompts Meme](http://lost-spook.dreamwidth.org/291842.html): 496 – I wanted to be sure to reach you – Brig/Liz.

“Hello?” said Liz into the phone, crouching down, half under the table. It crackled back at her unhelpfully. “Hello?” she tried again. “Doctor, is that you? Brigadier?” The phone finally went dead. “Damn.”

Liz risked standing to replace the receiver, but she wasn’t much surprised at its failure – there was a battle being fought outside between UNIT troops and an advance invasion of aliens that looked not unlike giant ants. The Doctor said they were a fascinating species, but nevertheless their morals had turned out to be even worse than those of humanity. Now they were trying to seize control of the nearby power complex and UNIT was trying to stop them. If they didn’t succeed, most of the south east of England would be finished.

The Doctor was working on a radio signal that he was very nearly sure would disable the Jiadi, as the evil alien ants were more properly known, while the Brigadier was leading the military defence. Liz had come out here with one of the men in order to connect the Doctor’s cable to the sub-station. Unfortunately, the poor private had been shot, and she had been forced to take cover in this abandoned cottage, waiting for the Doctor’s plan to work. She was beginning to wonder if it really would, but her fears were interrupted by a nearby explosion, causing her to jump as dirt and debris hit the building, sounding like hail against the window. There was nothing else she could do, however: she’d done her bit and fixed the cable securely in place. Now the rest was dependent on the Doctor getting his device working.

Liz crawled further under the table and wished he’d damn well hurry up. She could probably wait this out, but UNIT and the Brigadier outside might not be so lucky.

 

“Miss Shaw?”

Liz nearly bumped her head on the underside of the table, sitting up too straight, and then emerging on all fours. “Brigadier? I must say I’m glad to see you!”

“Ah, there you are,” said the Brigadier, his gaze finally reaching her level. His face gave no indication that he found anything odd or unexpected in her current position, and, Liz thought, she must be in quite the state by now, what with the explosions outside, poor Private Allenby’s bloody end, and the dust and grime of these old floorboards. 

Liz straightened herself, brushing dirt out of her skirt, and trying to regain her dignity. “Yes. Just about. I’ve got the Doctor’s cable connected, anyway.”

“I know,” said the Brigadier.

She raised an eyebrow.

“You would hardly be sitting in here if you hadn’t,” he said, and almost smiled at her. “The Doctor told me you hadn’t returned, so I thought I had better come and find you.”

“But those aliens –!”

“What, these Jiadi things?” said the Brigadier. Another explosion shook the building. “Yes. The Doctor’s gadget successfully disabled their weapons and their ship, but they’re apparently a hard-core military species and they’re going to fight it out to the end. We’ve beaten them back towards the ship and it’s only a matter of time, but even unarmed the things won’t give in and they don’t die easily.”

“What a waste,” Liz said. “I mean, all round. Don’t some people know when to give in?”

The Brigadier held out a hand. “Apparently not. Come on, I’ll see you back to base.”

“Wait. I might be able to help.”

The Brigadier raised an eyebrow. “With slaughtering a handful of weaponless aliens who damned well won’t surrender? Wouldn’t have thought that was your style, Miss Shaw.”

“I wouldn’t have thought it was yours, either,” she said, tired and battered, her hands sore from the work she’d had in getting the cable fixed in place, and Allenby’s blood down her skirt and jacket.

“No, it isn’t. The Doctor thinks he can find a way to contain them, so we’re trying to keep them near the ship, but as I said, they won’t stop fighting. They’ll use their claws, or any weapons they can take from my men.”

“I suppose that’s their own fault, then.”

The Brigadier opened the door, scanning the situation, before ushering her out. “Yes. It is. The Doctor, of course, feels that it’s mine.”

Liz gave a short laugh. “Of course. Never mind, Brigadier.”

“Follow me.”

She did, letting him lead her into the trees, keeping their heads down as they moved. The fighting had moved further away than it had sounded in the cottage.

“I’m sure I can make it back to HQ from here, if you need to get back to the men,” she said.

The Brigadier shook his head. “No, no. I’ve got to have a word with the Doctor anyway. Besides, you’re a valuable member of staff – I’m not having you wander about a battlefield.”

“Why, thank you, Brigadier,” said Liz. “I think that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

He didn’t reply, so she merely grinned to herself, and followed him through the trees, wishing yet again that she’d worn more sensible boots. They managed to avoid the creatures, although more than one shot came uncomfortably close and Liz, beginning to struggle now, slipped into a stream, but did no damage to anything but her dignity. The Brigadier had an amused glint in his eye as he helped her out again (despite her protests that she could manage, thanks), but at least he spared her any comment.

 

When they made it to their temporary HQ, they found it all but deserted.

“Corporal Matthews,” said the Brigadier, marching into the lab, and cornering the sole remaining soldier they found waiting for them there. “Where the hell is everyone? Where’s the Doctor?”

“Sir!” Corporal Matthews saluted. “That’s just it, sir. The Doctor came up with something – he said it was a gas that would knock the things out, and then he can send them back into space. With a note for the authorities, he said, although I’m not sure what he meant by that.”

Liz had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. “So, pretty much as usual, then. Good for the Doctor.”

“Yes, and about time,” said the Brigadier. “Those blasted things have caused enough trouble.” He took a step towards the door, only to pull up short as one of the blasted things in question burst through it, knocking it off its hinges.

Liz yelled as the Brigadier fired, but with no effect, and then he cast the revolver aside, evidently out of ammunition after the trip back across the battle zone. It pulled back and then leapt for him, with the unfair advantage of three extra arms, two extra legs and natural body armour.

Liz looked about desperately for something to throw at it, or hit it with, and seized the nearest test tubes from the Doctor’s latest experiment. “Duck!” she yelled at the Brigadier, throwing them at the alien even as the Brigadier pulled back and dived out of the way. She closed her eyes and turned her head away and prayed that it was part of the anti-Jiadi solution and not some interesting tea variant the Doctor had been trying out.

After a short moment of comparative silence, she opened her eyes again: the Brigadier was pulling himself up again while the Jiadi was lying on the floor, limbs waving about as its armour melted.

It made sense that if the Doctor had been trying to find something to stop it, that his remaining experiments should have an effect on it, but Liz sagged with relief anyway, and leant on the table, not quite steady. You never quite knew with the Doctor, that was the thing. 

“Miss Shaw,” said the Brigadier, moving nearer to her, and blocking her view of the creature. “Liz,” he said, when she didn’t respond, and then, when she looked at him. “Thank you.”

They both turned as the creature gave a screech.

“Excuse me,” said the Brigadier. He retrieved his revolver, reloaded it and fired. The room shook with the report. He glanced round at her. “Sorry about that.”

Liz shook her head. “No. It needed to be done. And it was it or you. And I don’t suppose it’d have hesitated to finish me off afterwards, either.”

“No. You’re unharmed?”

She was beginning to recover her composure. “Of course. How about you?”

“Fine – thanks to your quick actions.”

Liz moved across. “Really? Because your arm looks as if it’s bleeding to me. Of course, I’m merely a medical doctor, so you might not want to take my word for it –”

“A scratch,” said the Brigadier.

Liz fetched the first aid kit from its cupboard, noting that it seemed to be minus a few items. The Doctor had probably taken a few things again, when he was in a hurry. She hunted through for the antiseptic and a bandage, still not over the shock, or the grotesque state of the creature on the floor. Throwing unlabelled chemicals about wasn’t very scientific, but she couldn’t have let it kill the Brigadier. Letting things kill one’s boss never looked good on the CV, she added to herself in reassurance that it wasn’t specifically about the Brigadier – she’d have done the same for Corporal Matthews or anyone. Which was true, probably but she doubted she’d feel so shaken over it.

“Miss Shaw?”

“Nothing, nothing,” she said. “Now, let me patch that up and stop being ridiculously stoic.”

He moved away with a faint smile. “I’m not. I’ll see to it myself presently.” 

“Brigadier.”

“Best not,” he said, and crossed to the door, giving a slight cough. “I had better find out what the Doctor’s up to. He might be in trouble.”

Liz put the bandages away, accepting his warning: _Best not. It wouldn’t be wise._ He was probably right, although it at least made her feel better that he felt the need to ward her off. This thing went both ways. “Yes, very likely. Let me know if you need me.”

“Of course,” he said, and then smiled. “I’m sure I shall.”

“Damn the man,” said Liz to herself as he left.


End file.
